Subject: [Homestead] Walmart puts the squeeze on food costs.
Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 17:14:03 -0400
The boys from Arkansas aren't using all their power for evil:
"(Fortune Magazine) -- With gas, grain, and dairy prices exploding, you'd
think the biggest seller of corn flakes and Cocoa Puffs would be getting hit
by rising food costs. But Wal-Mart has temporarily rolled back prices on
hundreds of food items by as much as 30% this year. How? By pressuring
vendors to take costs out of the supply chain.
"When our grocery suppliers bring price increases, we don't just accept
them," says Pamela Kohn, Wal-Mart's general merchandise manager for
perishables. To be sure, Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) isn't the only retailer
working to cut fat from the food chain, but as the largest grocer -
Wal-Mart's food and consumables revenue is nearly $100 billion - it has a
disproportionate amount of leverage. Here's how the retailer is throwing its
weight around. "